The present invention relates to video games and in particular the present invention relates to wireless control of a video game system.
With the advancements in video game systems, personalized operation is becoming more desirable. Original video games allowed any user to operate the game at different skill levels which were selected at the start of the game. Each user, however, was treated the same during operation of the game. It would be desirable to allow each user to have a personality which interacts with the game, such that video game have the ability to xe2x80x9crecognizexe2x80x9d a user and adjust game operation accordingly.
Video game systems typically include one or more controllers for controlling the operation of a video game. These controllers are connected to a central processing unit through a communication bus cable. The video game user, therefore, is restricted in possible operating locations. That is, a user cannot play a game from a relatively remote location.
Further, because the game controllers are attached to the central processing unit, a portable personalized controller cannot be provided. Any user who operates a game using the same controller is treated the same by the video game.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a video game system having a portable controller which allows user to operate a video game from a remote location. Further, a video game system is need which has portable personalized game controllers.
The above mentioned problems with video game systems and other problems are addressed by the present invention and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification. A video game system is described which includes personalized wireless game controllers. The controller allows for the custom operation of an interactive video system based upon personal data transmitted from the controller.
In particular, one embodiment of the present invention describes a personalized portable video game controller comprising a wireless transmitter for transmitting user personalized information and video game control signals to a video game processor, input controls for generating the control signals in response to movements by a user, a non-volatile memory for storing the user personalized information, and a receiver for receiving wireless transmissions from the video game processor. The received wireless transmissions including data to be stored in the non-volatile memory.
In another embodiment, a video game system is described which comprises a processor unit for operating game software and displaying video images on a display screen. The processor includes a receiver for receiving wireless identification and control signal transmissions. The system also comprises a personalized portable controller having a plurality of control switches for generating game control signals, a non-volatile memory for storing personalized identification information corresponding to a user of the controller, and a transmitter for wireless transmitting of the identification and control signals to the processor unit.
In another embodiment, a method of operating an interactive video system is described. The method comprises the steps of activating a processing unit, transmitting personalized information from a controller using wireless transmissions, storing the personalized information in a memory of the processing unit, transmitting updated personalized information from the processing unit to the controller using wireless transmissions, and storing the updated personalized information in a memory of the controller.